How Did We Get Started?
By 1990, most Canadian Forces (CF) bases had secured family resource centres. Even 7 Wing, operating out of Uplands and Rockcliffe, had its own resource centre. However, because Department of National Defence Headquarters was not a base per se, it was overlooked, and the same kind of support and resources were not made available for its personnel and their families. So, in 1992, a number of CF members and spouses came together to form an Advisory Committee with the goal of setting down the framework for the Military Family Resource Centre of the National Capital Region (MFRC-NCR).
After one false start in May of 1992, the Advisory Committee hired an Executive Director and, before the end of the calendar year, the Constitution and By-laws were in place and the Proposal for Funding submitted and accepted by the Directorate of Military Family Support (DMFS). In the following six months, core staff members were hired and the work of building a resource centre was in full swing.
When Did the MFRC-NCR Open?
Beginning in 1992, the MFRC-NCR worked out of temporary offices in the Berger Building on Metcalfe Street in Ottawa but, in the fall of 1993, permanent space was found and renovated. The MFRC-NCR moved to its Sparks Street location in January, 1994, and had its official opening the following month.
Two years later, 7 Wing was closed and the MFRC-NCR took under its wing the families living in the Uplands area. The MFRC-NCR eventually relocated to the Uplands site, and is now the only Military Family Resource Centre in the National Capital Region, and is responsible for the families of approximately 6,000 Regular Forces and 1,500 Reservists.
Our Future
The MFRC-NCR is a unique Military Family Resource Centre (MFRC) because it is not part of a base, but rather part of the Canadian Forces Support Unit that serves the Department of National Defence Headquarters.
In addition to the MFRC-NCR’s organizational differences, less than 1,000 of the 7,500 Regular Force members and Reservists in the National Capital Region live in military housing. This military housing is located in the Uplands area, and our remaining Canadian Forces families are scattered throughout the widespread National Capital Region. The MFRC-NCR is working hard to establish two satellite offices, one in Gatineau and one in Orleans, to better meet the needs of the large number of Canadian Forces families living in these communities.